Abstract
Purpose :
The diagnosis of diabetic macular edema (DME) in Type I and Type II diabetics has been associated with various risk factors that correlate with progression of disease. In order to further understand the multi-factorial nature of this disease, we performed a retrospective cohort study to further examine the role of potential systemic factors associated with the development of center-involving DME among a patient population in New Mexico.
Methods :
Data on 24 systemic factors was collected from 121 patients seen between February 1, 2018 and February 1, 2020 with either Type I or Type II diabetes and a known diagnosis of center-involving DME (based on OCT). These patients were then compared to a control of 69 patients with mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Each continuous variable was statistically analyzed with chi-squared or Fisher exact test.
Results :
Our analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between DME patients and the control for the following risk factors: elevated systolic blood pressure (p<0.016), insulin use (p<0.001), and macroalbuminuria (p<0.001). There was no correlation to the levels of HbA1c, cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and GFR. The majority of American Indians in our cohort did not have any center-involving DME.
Conclusions :
Our results show that there was no correlation between HbA1c level and development of center-involving DME. Similarly, there was lack of correlation between lipid levels and DME. The strongest associations with DME were elevated systolic blood pressure, insulin use, and macroalbuminuria. American Indians in this population appear to be protected from center-involving DME. Our ongoing genomics study using whole exome sequencing will identify the possible genetic factors related to development of DME.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.